Pirate boys are second at Marion Harding over weekend

By Rob Hamilton

December 3, 2013

By ROB HAMILTON

Cardington opened the 2013-14 basketball season by taking second place at the Marion Harding Kory Kilpatrick Tip-Off Classic. In their opening game on Friday, the Pirates topped the host school 60-53 thanks to a huge third quarter.

Harding led 14-10 after the opening eight minutes and 31-19 at the intermission, but Cardington dominated the third period by a 24-6 margin to go on top by six.

The Pirates then took the fourth period by a 17-16 margin to hold on for the win and advance to Saturday’s championship game.

The Pirates wouldn’t be able to make it two in a row in the tournament on Saturday, however, as Delaware Hayes topped the locals 69-47.

Hayes jumped out to a 20-11 lead after the opening period and continued to outscore Cardington throughout the game.

The Pirates were outscored 19-13 in the second quarter, 17-15 in the third and 13-8 in the fourth, as Delaware took the win. Yake scored 16 to lead Cardington, while Dornon added 13 and Richardson finished with nine.

Mount Gilead Indians

A second-half swoon doomed Mount Gilead in their season-opener at home against Wynford on Friday.

The Indians led 19-17 after the opening period and maintained a two-point lead into the half. Unfortunately for the locals, the Royals were able to control the game for the remainder.

Mount Gilead was outscored 13-4 in the third quarter and 13-9 over the final eight minutes, as Wynford pulled away to win by 11.

Deondre Cook led the Indians with 18 points, while Xavier Harris added 10.

Northmor Knights

Northmor struggled to get untracked on offense in both the second and fourth quarters in a 56-27 loss at Bucyrus on Saturday.

The Knights only trailed 14-9 after the opening eight minutes, but were outscored 19-3 in the third quarter to fall behind by 21 points.

Then, after cutting one point off their deficit in the third period, they were topped 11-2 over the final eight minutes as Bucyrus continued to pull away for the win.

Daniel Donner scored 13 points and added 12 rebounds to lead Northmor in both categories.